In this task, you are given news articles and you need to generate a highlight, i.e., a short summary, with a maximum length of 10 lines.

New York (CNN) -- Like so many other people of my generation, John Lennon and the Beatles made an indelible stamp on my life. The very first piece of vinyl I actually owned -- and hadn't borrowed from my older brother -- was the album "Help!" To this day, I can remember at the age of 8 dropping the needle on the disc and hearing Lennon's voice roar through the 10-inch speaker on my record player. The Beatles had a profound influence on me. They're the reason why I picked up a guitar, formed a band at age 11 and dreamed of a life as a rock star. Fast-forward 16 years to December 8, 1980. At the time, I was a music journalist for City TV in Toronto, Canada, hosting "The New Music" program. Just a couple of weeks earlier, we had reported on Lennon's comeback with the album "Double Fantasy," which marked his re-emergence after five years out of the music business as a self-proclaimed "househusband." We were actively working with his record company, trying to set up an interview for a future edition of the program. I was not far from my 24th birthday when the telephone rang on that December day around 11:30 p.m. It was my executive producer, John Martin. "Lennon has been shot,"he said, "and we need to do a special." Tell us where you were when Lennon died . It was one of those moments where time seems to slow down and the mind considers a hundred questions before finally settling on the truth: . How could he have been shot? Are the reports mistaken? Who would do such a thing? How could we lose such a pop culture icon? Didn't he just turn 40? Didn't he have a young son? Didn't he have security? Will I wake up and this will all have been just a dream? We gathered that night in our offices to sift through the material that we had: old Beatles footage, a Lennon documentary that my producer shot years earlier, and the famous D.A. Pennebaker film. We collected the names of friends, collaborators and other acquaintances who could help us tell the Lennon story. A day or two later, City TV aired a live broadcast of a memorial to Lennon at Nathan Phillips Square in front of Toronto's City Hall. Canada had a rich history with Lennon: It was there that he made his post-Beatles debut with the Plastic Ono Band in 1969 and staged his famous North American bed-in in Montreal. Next Wednesday marks 30 years since Lennon's murder. His killer, Mark David Chapman, 55, is still serving his prison sentence of 20 years to life at the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York. He will stay there for at least another two years as he was just denied parole for the sixth time. This weekend, CNN will examine the events leading up to Lennon's killing. Chapman and his wife, Gloria Abe, describe the murder in rare audio recordings that will debut on CNN's "Losing Lennon: Countdown To Murder." Chapman's childhood friends reveal an obsessive idolization of Lennon that later turned to hatred. His wife talks about how she knew that her husband planned to kill Lennon and explains why she didn't warn anyone. The impact of Lennon's death still reverberates today. Several tribute concerts and ceremonies started in October, when Lennon would have turned 70, and have carried on since. This year, Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, revived the Plastic Ono Band with current rock stars including Lady Gaga. Ono told Rolling Stone she believes this rekindling of interest in Lennon "has to do with the social climate, with wanting some of John's energy, power and conviction." Lennon's profound influence on music and musicians continues to this day. Marc Roberge, the lead singer of alt-rockers O.A.R., was not even 2 years old when Lennon was killed. Roberge penned the recent song "Dakota" after stopping by Lennon's old apartment building with his wife. He was so taken with the images that came to mind as he looked into the entranceway where Lennon was shot that he walked across Central Park West, sat down on a park bench and penned these lyrics: . Outside the archway lies a thief, awaiting Double Fantasy . He's something evil underneath . Outside Dakota died the symphony . "I watched and I tried to imagine this going down," Roberge told me. "And then I tried to imagine what if it never happened, and that's really the question of the song: 'If you just kept walking on your way.' I mean, would the world be different? And I think the world would be better." Like Roberge, I've often wondered what would have happened had Lennon not been murdered. Would the world have been a better place? There's certainly every possibility that his commitment to peace would have added something substantive to the global conversation. At the very least, we would have had years more of great music and performance from a man who was truly an artistic genius. Watch American Morning weekdays 6am to 9am ET. For the latest from American Morning click here.
CNN's John Roberts is the anchor of "American Morning"
He recalls learning of Lennon's death as a music journalist in Canada .
This week marks the 30th anniversary of Lennon's slaying .

(CNN) -- It's the height of summer in Paris, and the director of the most famous art museum in the world is queuing like any other tourist. Three-and-a-half hours later, Jean-Luc Martinez finally enters the Louvre, putting his bag through security, asking for directions, stopping to buy snacks and drinks. It's a familiar story for anyone brave enough to join the snaking line during peak season. Less so, when you're the man who holds the key to the front door. A few months after taking the top job at the Louvre, 49-year-old Martinez went on a covert mission to see what it's really like for the average Joe jostling against the snap-happy masses. Why? "If you are a professional, there is a risk at certain times you are only going to look at the museum with the eyes of a professional," he told CNN in his first television interview with the international press, since taking the role in April. "The people who visit the Louvre might only stop by once, and a trip to Paris is the holiday of their life. We have to make sure that they are received with a certain dignity." The people's museum? With over 9.7 million tourists streaming through the turnstiles last year -- easily making it the most popular museum on the planet -- the biggest challenge the institution now faces is not how to increase numbers, but how to improve the experience. How will Martinez, one of the institution's youngest ever directors, make that happen? "I hope it will be more welcoming, which means that when you arrive at the museum there are less queues, that the people of foreign origin find reference points in their language, that with the help of Wi-Fi and apps you understand what you see," he said. "I picture a museum in which everyone finds their space. What threatens museums is that it is only an elite which understands the works of art. I want a museum where there are young people, children, elderly people -- and that requires work." Modest Martinez . It's an ambitious vision for the 220-year-old gallery, an institution so steeped in prestige that Martinez underwent an interview with French President Francois Hollande before being offered the role. But then, Martinez isn't like previous directors. Growing up in social housing just outside of Paris in the 1960s, his father was a postman, his mother a caretaker of an apartment building. A former archeology and art history professor, Martinez was head of the Louvre's Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities department before taking over from 12-year director Henri Loyrette -- himself the son of a business lawyer. Described by colleagues as a "quiet intellectual with a penchant for tweed and sweater vests," Martinez says the first time he visited the gallery as an 11-year-old on a school trip, it revolutionized his view of the world. "I was a kid that lived in a modern city, almost entirely dating from the 1960s," he said. "And there I was, in the heart of Paris, shown works of art that were more than 5,000 years old and that history is profound." Beyond the stars . Yet gaze across at the crowds scrambling to get a photo of the Mona Lisa -- while a room of precious Rembrandt paintings stands almost empty -- and you get the feeling not everyone shares Martinez's appreciation for the Louvre's vast collection. "The majority of people want to see the works of art that are the most famous -- the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace," said Martinez. "We have to do some profound work to valorize the other collections." How? Through exhibitions of lesser-known works, new educational centers, and translating information plaques into English. Brand Louvre . Of the Louvre's 460,000 works, just 35,000 are exhibited, the rest in storage deep under the famous building. That's where Louvre Lens comes in -- a €150 million ($200 million) sister gallery in a former mining town in northern France. Opened last year, the gleaming new building displays around 200 pieces on loan from Paris. It's part of a growing Louvre empire, with another gallery set to open in Abu Dhabi in 2015, exhibiting 300 works from French museums. The United Arab Emirates is paying €400 million ($538 million) for the prestigious Louvre name. And in times of austerity, it's a deal which will help the French institution revamp its entrance and ticket areas. Does the deal also devalue the Louvre brand? "No," says Martinez. "It's an agreement, a scientific partnership, an economic partnership." With Martinez at the helm, it's also the beginning of a brave new era for the beloved institution.
Jean-Luc Martinez, new director of the Louvre, reveals plans to shake-up establishment .
49-year-old comes from modest background, father was a postman, mother a caretaker .
Wants visitors to be treated with "dignity," plans multimillion revamp of ticket area .
Says $538m deal to build Louvre Abu Dhabi will help pay for makeover of French institution .

(CNN) -- Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a hat-trick as Real Madrid crushed Malaga 7-0 to close the gap on Spanish league leaders Barcelona. The Portuguese striker ended his four-match goal drought in style as Jose Mourinho's side reduced Barca's advantage at the top of La Liga to seven points. Second-bottom Malaga had no answer to a powerful attacking display and finished the game with nine men after defender Manolo was sent off and Cala limped off injured after they had made all their permitted substitutions. Malaga coach Manuel Pelligrini, who was replaced at Real Madrid by Mourinho, chose to rest some of his best players and the decision came back to haunt him at the Bernabeu. France international Karim Benzema began the rout after 27 minutes when he diverted Xabi Alonso's free kick into the net. Angel Di Maria added a second nine minutes later after capitalizing on a missed interception to slot the ball into the bottom corner. Just before the break Marcelo slammed Di Maria's pass into the corner of the net to make it 3-0. There was no let up after the interval as Ronaldo rounded off a flowing move to register a fourth before Benzema got his second with a header from Marcelo's cross. Manolo handled in the area to give Real a penalty and was shown a second yellow card by the referee. Ronaldo made no mistake from the spot. And the striker completed his hat-trick by converting Sergio Canales' cross at the near post with 13 minutes remaining before asking to be substituted.

Real Madrid beat Malaga 7-0 in Spain's La Liga .
Cristiano Ronaldo scores a hat-trick as Real close gap on leaders Barcelona .
Karim Benzema scores twice as Real move to within seven points of Barca .

